Foresight is 2020 Efforts underway to ensure accuracy in next census.

Byline: Daniel J. Munoz

The 2020 U.S. Census is just over two years away and there's a lot riding on the numbers for New Jersey residents.The 2020 U.S. Census is just over two years away and there's a lot riding on the numbers for New Jersey residents.

The state's 4.5 percent population growth to 8,791,894, as reported in the 2010 U.S. Census, wasn't enough to justify 13 Congressional seats. And with a new census around the corner, there's concern yet another could be lost.

"It's going to be very important, and I think there are already efforts underway in the state to make sure there's an accurate count," said John Farmer Jr., who's teaching a course on gerrymandering at Rutgers University-Newark.

In 2012, the 9th Congressional District, represented by Democratic Rep. Steve Rothman, and the 8th Congressional District, repped by Rep. Bill Pascrell, also a Democrat, were merged together. The two then had to face off in the primaries, from which Pascrell emerged victorious.

"It became a very intense process," Farmer said. "When we did the map, we did it with the knowledge that there was going to be an incumbent in Congress who wasn't going to survive the next round and was going to be pitted against another incumbent."

In 2010, Farmer served as the 13th member and politically independent chair of the commission tasked with redrawing the lines for the state's 40 legislative districts and then-13 congressional districts. Of the other 12 members, six are Democrats and six are Republicans.

Farmer was the tie-breaking vote, and he ultimately went with the GOP-favored map, though he admitted driving "both parties nuts."

"There are some objective standards that you look at when you look at the maps," he said. "How many towns does it split? Are the districts compact or spread out all over the place?

"Some of the gerrymandered districts across the country look ridiculous. There'll be a thin band of property that connects one part of the district to each other."

To that end, Gov. Phil Murphy on Aug. 24 signed Assembly Bill 4208, which establishes the New Jersey Complete Count Commission, a 27-member group tasked with ensuring there is as much resident participation in the census as possible so the bureau can get the most accurate count.

"Because federal funds, grants and support to states, counties and communities are based on population totals and breakdowns by sex, age, race and other factors, communities benefit the most when the census counts...